casual

HOT: Salford Lads Club, 1 Fennell Street, Port Melbourne

August 15, 2011 ⋅ 2 comments

Hip hangouts can be found everywhere in Melbourne and Salford Lads Club fits in the bill in the most unlikeliest of areas – the nether-regions of industrial Port Melbourne. Ex-industrial factory space – check. Stripped back brickwork and exposed beams – check. Wood, lots of it – check. Cool bikes – check. Young and hip [...]

HOT: L’atelier de Monsieur Truffe, 351 Lygon St, East Brunswick

August 8, 2011 ⋅ 4 comments

Three words to cheer up your Monday. New. Chocolate. Shop! Collingwood favourite Monsieur Truffe has opened bigger and brighter establishment in Brunswick East and it has all of the charm of the original plus more. Thibault Fregoni, the ‘mister’ of Monsieur Truffe, has set up his own old-fashioned cocoa bean roaster and bean press, which [...]

HOT Chat: Greg Ferrington of Westgate Community Initiatives Group Inc and LoveLuvo

August 5, 2011 ⋅ 4 comments

Regular readers will know that I love finding out about social enterprise businesses in Melbourne (such as STREAT, Charcoal Lane and The Social Studio) and recently I was told about LoveLuvo, a retail store with environmentally friendly products for the home and body (as well as a manufacturing business) which provides employment for those with [...]

HOT: Third Wave Cafe, 189 Rouse St, Port Melbourne

August 3, 2011 ⋅ Post a comment

As many of you know, I’m not a coffee-drinker. What’s even stranger in a coffee-town such as Melbourne is that many of my friends are not coffee-drinkers either! Which means that there is a bit of a hole in my reviewing repertoire. Thankfully, my coffee-drinking friend M has returned from overseas and is a ready [...]

HOT: Wallis & Ed, 1 Bourke St, Melbourne

July 18, 2011 ⋅ 4 comments

With so many excellent restaurants to choose from in our city, Melbourne never really had a place in its heart for the Hard Rock Cafe. So the American chain’s prime location on the corner of Bourke Street and Spring Street has now been transformed into the chic space known as Wallis & Ed, named after, [...]

HOT: Pillar of Salt, 541 Church St, Richmond

July 7, 2011 ⋅ 3 comments

In The Melbourne Magazine’s recent list of Melbourne’s best cafes, Richmond’s winner was Pillar of Salt. Intrigued by its biblical name, I made a mental note to visit it the next time I was around Richmond. Let me just say at the outset it’s a place worth a trip across town. On a weekday afternoon [...]

HOT: Naked for Satan, 285 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

July 6, 2011 ⋅ One comment

When Naked for Satan first opened in September 2010, it was all about the drinking. The bar infuses its own vodka in a polished metal engine-like contraption and as the wall of wine attests, it’s a gathering place for people to drink and be merry. A year later, the focus seems to have turned to [...]

HOT: Eat Drink Man Woman, 413 Brunswick St, Fitzroy

June 13, 2011 ⋅ 5 comments

On the site of the much maligned Retro cafe on Brunswick Street is a new project from Daniel Schelbert, the short-lived head chef from Hare & Grace. The dingy saggy couches and stained ripped vinyl chairs have been replaced with sleek marine palate of black, cream, gold and blue. The expansive space is dominated by [...]

NOT: Julio, 171 Miller St, Fitzroy North

June 2, 2011 ⋅ 8 comments

Last week The Age’s Melbourne Magazine published its list of top 30 Melbourne cafes. Obviously such a list is going to create some controversy but as I scanned the names I nodded in agreement with most of their choices. Then I got out my diary to make a note of the cafes that I had [...]

HOT Chat: Benjamin Roberts of SKAPA BILDA

May 27, 2011 ⋅ One comment

I recently visited the Portobello Bride Boutique Wedding Market with two of my about-to-be-wed friends and was enraptured with the work of SKAPA BILDA. Who knew you could create such gorgeousness with paper! Todays’ HOT Chat is with Benjamin Roberts, one of the principals of SKAPA BILDA. Thanks Benjamin! Benjamin, tell me a bit more [...]